Dialogue 101

[mbarker.livejournal.com]

original posting: Sun, 6 Nov 1994 11:43:25 EST

"So, Billy, you're in trouble?"
"Yeah, and..."
"Why don't you tell me all about it?"
"I, uh, well..."
"Did it all start that night when you stole the car?"

er, uh, yes, you too can write stilted, awkward dialogue!

[I think I can, I think I can...]

so, let's practice!

1. pick two (or more) characters.

2. pick a scene--a background for the conversation. we want a little more than talking heads, so decide where they are talking. In a coffeeshop over tea and cakes? squatting in the alley waiting for the aliens to find the last two real humans?

3. pick a point of view. most likely, we (the readers) are hovering near one person or in their head (limited third person or first person I believe are the correct terms).

4. and one of the other people (the other person in a dialogue) has a problem (information, question, whatever) that they want to bring up, but they are having trouble opening up. (pick your crisis: losing job, death, marriage, illness, accident, leaving home, graduation, retirement, changing jobs, changing homes, murder, rape, kidnap, brainwashing, blasphemy, "little Jane's soul has been stolen by a demon," or...)

5. write it. don't forget that these people are talking to each other--NOT to us as readers. they aren't likely to tell each other about background, although it may be implied by what they do talk about.

[I DID!]

write soon!

Shut Up and Dance!

[mbarker.livejournal.com]

original posting: Sun, 13 Nov 1994 09:00:05 EST

Since I'm swamped (yes, up to our ar..mpits in allegories, crocodiles knibbling at the vitals, bloodsucking leeches spitting, airborne insectoids biting and gagging--we are finding a place to LIVE!) and Becca was good enough to post this, let me just pick it up and run it around the player again...

<scratch..scratch..scratch..oh, 45 rpm?..rrrrrrr!>

1. pick a phrase. try one of these if the mind is blanker than normal:

shut up and dance
sometimes endings are opportunities
and with that, it was final
I could only stare

2. Set a time (20 minutes, 45 minuts, etc.)

3. write around that phrase.

4. GO!

thanks, Becca!

[and they're off...the starting blocks just fell away, the blinders are flapping around their necks, and the silly kangaroos are bounding every which way. Guess that's why they're called BOUNDERS, eh?]

Better Late Than...

[mbarker.livejournal.com]

original posting: Sun, 20 Nov 1994 23:15:39 EST

[drat. between closing, moving again, and trying to keep that process relatively smooth, I've missed posting... but don't fret, before long I should be back with more comments from the peanut brittle gallery!]

How about this one?

1. Pick an object, view, or something concrete. Now, for our purposes, that is the "criminal."

[It seemed to cover..no, explode into sight. Fortunately, I hadn't eaten beforehand, so it only made me a bit queasy.]

2. Make a list of "clues"--points about this object, colors, scents, etc. Make sure there are some that identify a whole group ("It's a fruit") and some that apply only to this specific object out of all the bits and pieces in the world ("With a long, purple worm crawling out of the hole in its side...")

[The crack wandering down one side was an unpleasant surprise. Still, I was glad to see it was fairly small. Only the whiteness made the jagged seam seem like a huge blemish.]

3. Pick one. Now try to state it in a way that is surprising, shocking, or otherwise likely to make the reader sit up. "It was floating three inches below the ceiling when I came in..." Try to avoid letting the reader know what "it" is!

[I wondered why we had insisted...no, that's right, this was where we shuddered and blanched. Alright, so this was an improvement.]

4. Do that with a few more. Misdirect the reader, bamboozle 'em, give them that old razzle-dazzle! Your clues can be buried in a pile of similar ones, casually off-hand, or whatever you like, but make them up!

[Outside, the trees seemed so natural. The clouds skimmed across the sky as if nothing had changed. But inside!]

5. Now write a scene including the clues. Introduce "it" near the beginning, using one of your clues. Then go on with some other part of the process. After a bit, toss in another clue. Then turn to the counting of the cracks in the ceiling. And keep going, right up to the climactic moment when you finally reveal to the world what "it" is.

Have fun!

[wallpaper? paint? how about we just let the purple-grey walls sit for a while? I know they're hideous, but at least they look better now than with the grey wallpaper or that wonderful fire engine red wallpaper with the gold figures cavorting...]

I'll be right back...

Write, one, two, three, Write...

[mbarker.livejournal.com]

original posting: Sun, 4 Dec 1994 13:20:52 EST

hokay! essayists, story-tellers, mayhap even power poets, gather round and give this one a swing...

1. Take your favorite book of quotes, aphorisms, poems, or other source of "well-known" sayings. Flip it open and as randomly as possible, pick one (yes, you can use dice, random numbers, or whatever you like). If you don't have a book handy, pick one of these (maybe not so well-known, but randomly plucked by my local fortune program):

"Scientists are peeping toms at the Keyhole of Eternity "
-- Arthur Koestler

"Like so many Americans, she was trying to construct a life that made sense from things she found in gift shops."
-- Kurt Vonnegut, Jr.

"Never give a statist an even break. The State has never given us one."
-- Andre Marrou

"In addition I think science has enjoyed an extraordinary success because it has such a limited and narrow realm in which to focus its efforts. Namely, the physical universe."
-- Ken Jenkins

"Nothing can stop him. Not even common sense."
-- Mark Komarinski

2. Now, pick four characters. They are talking, arguing, having some kind of interaction. One of your characters takes the stance (opinion, position, whatever) expressed in your quote--without ever directly stating it! The other three continue their foolishness in their very own ways, of course, while your "character with a message" just keeps trying to figure out the best way to get the message across...

(oh--essayists? you might want to use three other positions, explicitly brought out and defined, with the fourth position--that of the quote--being implicitly described?)

3. The rest of the plot is up to you. Does the character convert everyone? Do the others convert the character? Do they split up, shake hands and go out for a beer together, pound the exercise meister into a quivering mass of words wrapped around an inclined bench, or...?

[BONUS EXERCISE: Do the same thing, except--DON'T GIVE THE POSITION TO ANY CHARACTER--make the situation, setting, etc. implicitly make the statement! e.g.

As the three men argued over exactly what Heaven intended them to do in this kind of situation, the raft tipped over the falls and...

fell.

All three were buried with due pomp and ceremony amidst many fine sentiments about the will of God.

This put an end to their dispute.]

So, on your keyboards, get ready, go!

[and in case you haven't thought about it, don't forget that excellent advice of old...

people yackity-yack all day, and waste the time of day,
but Mr. Ed will never talk, unless he has something to say!]

look forward to your writing

A Deal with the Devil...

[mbarker.livejournal.com]

Original posting: Fri, 16 Dec 1994 18:35:22 EST

You may remember stories of lawyers and others dealing with the devil?

In any case, here's the boiling hot pitch. Your debt is being called in, and your soul is in doubt, but...

there is a skinny, slim chance that you could write a story or poem to save yourself!

now write up the outer and inner stories--one being the unfortunate tale of how you ended up in this predicament and the pressure of writing this piece with pitchforks or other implements of hell behind you...the other being the story you spin to save your life!

with thanks to DTs for suggesting it:

I could not write a poem to save my life ;-) Some here would probably say I couldn't write a story to save it, either :-D.

Put A Metaphor in the Blender!

[mbarker.livejournal.com]

Original posting: Fri, 17 Dec 1993 18:35:02 JST

Bon said

Personally, I'd rather learn to navigate the riptides than be stuck without wind in my sails. (How's *that* for a mixed metaphor? |) )

that's good, but let's see what everyone can come up with, shall we?

THE CHALLENGE: Bon was talking about the volume (a deluge of information) and variety of information in newsgroups, suggesting that each of us must develop our own way of filtering. So - what's your best mixed metaphor describing that or another situation? Come, come, let's not be bashful - let's blend some images and watch them crunch!

How about - When you're keyboarding the big ones, you don't waste time hanging ten on a mouse!

[boo!]

all right, let's see you do better!